Exclusive | yonkers hs basketball coach ousted after antisemitic incident at game says he was ‘scapegoat’

EXPLORE MORE The ousted coach of a Yonkers high school girls basketball team said school officials made him a scapegoat when they fired him after some of his players allegedly yelled

antisemitic slurs at a visiting team from a Jewish school. Former Roosevelt High School coach Bryan Williams of New Rochelle told The Post he did an “excellent job with those girls” during

his three-year tenure with the team. But he was canned Sunday after last week’s game against the Leffell School, a private Jewish school in Hartsdale, which took an ugly turn when some of

his players allegedly tossed antisemitic slurs at their opponents — including one who allegedly said, “I support Hamas, you f–king Jew.” That was news to Williams, who said he did not hear

anyone jawing at each other or making threats. “I personally did not hear any of it on the court,” Williams told The Post. “I do not condone what was allegedly done … I do not condone that.

I focus on my team and what we have to try to do to win and be successful.” The coach also said he felt the Yonkers school district — which announced Sunday it had fired him and booted one

of his players off the team — “treated me very unfairly.” “They needed a scapegoat, and I was it,” he said. “They needed a fall guy.” The Jan. 4 game ended early after the antisemitic slurs,

and security guards had to escort the Leffell School players off the court after what the players described as an increasingly hostile contest. The Yonkers kids played rough, and throughout

the contest they yelled “Free Palestine” or other anti-Jewish statements, senior player Robin Bosworth wrote in an op-ed for the Lion’s Roar, Leffell’s student-run newspaper. Eventually,

the Leffell players walked off during a timeout as the coaches spoke with each other, then the refs. Eventually, they canceled the game, and Roosevelt agreed to forfeit. On Sunday, Yonkers

Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Luis Rodriguez and city Mayor Mike Spano issued a joint statement denouncing the hatred and apologizing for the vitriol the visiting team faced.

“Collectively, we do not and will not tolerate hate speech of any kind from our students and community,” the statement said. “The antisemitic rhetoric reportedly made against the student

athletes of The Leffell School are abhorrent, inappropriate and not in line with the values we set forth for our young people.” But Williams says the game didn’t happen like that. He said

his kids played the game the proper way, which included tough defense. “We were just playing basketball,” said Williams, who is also the CEO, founder and program director of Hoopers NY, an

“elite girls national travel basketball program,” according to its website. He also said he warned his kids to “act appropriately,” since they’d be playing against a Jewish team. “I told

them that — everyone,” he said. When he found out that the Leffell school kids were accusing his team of being racist, he told his girls to apologize for whatever they said, immediately. But

they didn’t get the chance because the game ended abruptly. He added that he doesn’t believe Yonkers did the investigation properly, and he wished he got to finish out the season with his

team. Especially because some are seniors, and he’s worked with them for several years. “I can’t say who did what,” Williams said. “All I was focused on was my team and how we’re playing,

what we need to do to be successful and win.” “We were winning by a lot, so I was shocked because, again, I don’t think my girls would do that.”